Gambling on debt:problem gamblers strategies for concealing deviant identities

Problem gamblers are not easy to identify, they do not overdose and present at hospital, they are not visibly drunk in the way people abusing alcohol might be. Thus problem gambling has been labelled ‘the hidden addiction’ (Ladoucer, 2004) a term which also illustrates how problem gamblers become adept at concealing their behaviour; that is, protecting their deviant identities and normalising their actions. Impacts from problem gambling on the wider family and community include the loss of access to money needed for housing, utilities and food, stress linked to the problem gambling of a family member (arguments about money, domestic violence), the social stigma of having a family member with problem gambling, and criminal activity committed by the problem gambler in order to access money for gambling (Orford et al 2012: 275; Responsible Gambling Strategy Board, 2010). The first UK Gambling and Debt study (Downs and Woolrych, 2010) provides evidence of the wider social impacts of problem gambling and considers the utility of sociological approaches to the understanding and management of problem gamblin